Chapter 4
Asher – Past – Age 38
I was still staring at that Reese Cup Chloe had handed to me hours later.
I probably did need to eat it.
But something stopped me from doing that.
She was all the time doing little things like that.
And without rhyme or reason, I grabbed a sharpie, wrote the date on it, opened the drawer I had the others in, and carefully placed it there.
Seeing the ones she had given me over the years, I smiled, then closed the drawer.
There was a knock on my office door.
I called out, “Yeah?”
Charlie opened the door and then headed inside.
“I’m not sure who she has helping her, but no fucking luck, Pres. You want me to get with Hippie, just say the word.”
I leaned back in my chair and sighed, “Just keep looking for her. I trust you, Charlie. I know you’ll find her.”
He nodded, then walked out of my office.
Closing my eyes, I tried to think of anywhere that she could be.
This shit was getting old real fucking fast.
It’s been sixteen years since I laid eyes on her.
Knowing her, I was surprised now that I think about how long it’s been.
And add into that how long it’s been since we’ve dealt with Verity Runner’s MC, which I thought we had dismantled years ago when I started this MC.
VRMC was a one percent motorcycle club like we were.
However, where we drew the line at hurting kids and women, they didn’t have such lines.
Therefore, we dismantled them before Stella was born because no way in fucking hell was I going to allow an MC that was all about trafficking kids to be in the same world that my daughter lived in, we were able to save seventy-nine children.
But we had gotten word from one of our informants that we didn’t get all the members like we thought we had.
The president... a man everyone referred to as El Toro, no one knew his real name, had apparently gone to ground.
But he was back in the land of the living.
Needing to get my mind off where my thoughts were headed, I got out of my office and walked through the clubhouse.
As soon as I saw the glow from the media room I had installed a year ago, I headed in that direction.
A year ago, Stella and Chloe wanted to go see a double feature at the theater.
And I had been all for it, and it had been fine for years.
Until I saw two of the attendees eyeing the girls up and down when they were only thirteen years old.
I had threatened the two punks to within an inch of their life.
But that hadn’t stopped them when the girls went the following weekend again.
That was why I had the media room built.
And boy, but it got fucking used.
That made it easier not to sweat over the ten grand I had shelled out.
But what really made it worth it? Seeing the smiles on the girl’s faces at Christmas time in their pajamas and fuzzy blankets.
I walked to the media room and saw Chloe’s eyes light on the television, and Stella was fast asleep.
I didn’t question it as my feet carried my body to the recliner beside the couch, where they were settled.
But first, I grabbed two throws, covered Stella up, and then handed one to Chloe.
She smiled, “Thank you.”
I settled into the recliner, then kicked back.
“What are we watching?” I asked Chloe.
She smiled, “The Last Ship.”
I nodded.
I’ve never sat down and watched it. But I’ve heard Chloe talking about it.
And when I felt eyes on me, I looked at Chloe.
“You’re really going to watch it?” She asked.
I nodded, “Yep.”
She smiled, “Well, okay then.”
And I wanted to kick my ass for not watching this show sooner. It was pretty damn good.
My eyes stayed glued to the episode called Gitmo.
Then I mumbled, “I want to be like Tex when I grow up.”
And when I didn’t hear anything, I looked over at Chloe, and sure enough, she was out like a light.
Her mouth was partially open, and a little drool was pooling on the couch cushion.
I held in my chuckle.
Carefully, I got up and covered her up, then moved to Stella, pulled her blanket up higher, and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.
After I killed the lights in the media room, I headed to the main room and looked at Whit, “Keep it down tonight. Girls are asleep in the media room.”
He lifted his chin.
There was an unspoken rule in this club.
It didn’t matter if we had important people here.
It didn’t matter if it was a big night.
If kids were asleep, shit got toned down.
And I loved the hell out of it.
It was three weeks later when it happened again.
Sometimes, she would come to me, sit down, and ask a random question.
Sometimes, I would go over to where she was and ask her if she had any random thoughts.
But it never bothered me who was around when she did this.
Because I didn’t let it matter.
We were having a party as well as a meeting to discuss a new trafficking ring that had popped up, and I knew deep in my bones that it was the Verity Runner’s MC.
Because this trafficking ring wasn’t centralized in just one area.
Oh no, it was cluing a lot of people in that they were operating in the south.
Which was uncommon as all hell.
Because people in the South were known for being gun owners and not being afraid to use them.
We were all outside, eight of us in total, with a few members from each motorcycle club making sure that no one got close enough to hear what we were discussing.
Yes, we could have met up in church, but the room wasn’t near large enough to house everyone and them not be on top of one another.
Powers, the president of the Tennessee chapter of Wrath MC, was in attendance.
Cotton, the national president, was supposed to be here, but his daughter, who played Volleyball, was in the championship playoffs.
Declan, the president of the Alabama chapter of Wrath MC.
Storm, the president of the South Carolina chapter of Wrath MC.
Trident, the president of the Georgia chapter of Wrath MC.
Teague is a member of the Texas chapter of Wrath MC.
Raptor is a member of the Florida chapter of Wrath MC.
Vulcan is the vice president of Immoral Saints MC out of Georgia.
Nuke, the president of the Soulless Outlaws MC out of Louisiana.
Tomb, the president of the Pagan’s Soldiers MC out of Kentucky.
“I’m telling you, we need to get ahead of this shit before it explodes in our faces,” Powers said as he took a pull from his beer.
I nodded, “Yeah. They nabbed a teenage girl a few towns over. Parents are beside themselves.”
“Anyone have any leads?” Powers asked.
Declan shook his head, “No fucking clue. But me and the boys have our ears to the ground.”
I lifted my chin, “I got a feeling about who it could be, but I need proof before I bring this shit to the proverbial table.”
Tomb nodded his head, “Yeah, a few kids have gone missing in our area too. Two girls and one boy. Ages range from eight to twelve.”
Vulcan said, “Yeah, that’s about the same age range we’re seeing too.”
Nuke sighed, “What I want to know is how are they getting this fucking information?”
Teague jerked up his chin, “We’re researching that. But we think they have someone from social services in each state that’s giving them this information.”
Trident nodded, “We’re thinking the same thing. Cause the four kids that were grabbed from our area are kids that no one would miss. Two of them were in the system, and the other two are living with parents who don’t give a shit.”
I nodded, “I’ll have Charlie check to see if that’s the case with the ones we found out were taken.”
I felt her before I saw her.
The way my spine tingled, the way proverbial butterflies took flight in my belly.
I tilted my head to the side and locked eyes with hers.
She had that look on her face when something was bothering her.
Her eyebrows were scrunched together, and she was nibbling on her lower lip.
Seeing that, I did the only thing I could do; I called out, “Chloe, come on over here and tell me what’s on your mind.”
When she got closer, she shook her head, “No, you're busy. It can wait.”
I shook my head, “It doesn’t matter. What is it?”
She sighed, then took in the men who were sitting in chairs and the men who were standing around.
Once her eyes came back to mine, she walked over, then knelt to the side of my chair and said, “You know how some gravesites hold someone’s plot for a certain number of years after they die?”
I nodded, “Yeah. What about it?”
She asked, “What do you think they do with the coffins and the bodies?”
I thought about it for a moment and then shook my head, “I got no fucking clue.”
Tomb spoke up then, “They recycle the coffins. As for the bodies, there’s nothing left.”
Chloe shivered, “Yeah, I wanna be cremated and my headstone to be placed overlooking a cliff.”
I chuckled, “Yeah, sounds a lot better.’”
She nodded, “Yeah, it definitely does.”
Then she got up, and like the fool I was where she was concerned, I watched her go.
Trying to bite back the growl of her in those short fucking shorts.
She was lucky it was so hot outside today that I couldn’t tell her to go change.
“She single?” Vulcan asked.
I skewered him with a look that said I would carve his eyes from his skull if she dared to look at her again, then growled, “She’s only seven-fucking-teen.”
He nodded, “You tell yourself that every second of the day?”
I didn’t say anything to that.
Instead, I said, “I’m hoping to have more concrete proof of who I think is behind it.” Then I looked at Teague, “Charlie couldn’t figure out the name of a certain man. No matter the channels he used, neither could Hippie. I think Miller might be able to figure it out.”
Teague jerked up his chin.
After we went a few more rounds, so to speak, everyone stood and agreed to share any information.
My eyes scanned the area, and when I found Stella near the tables, I looked for Chloe, who was on the other end placing down platters of food she had probably cooked.
I knew what area I was going to be demolishing here in a bit.
But first, I needed a fucking beer.
Conleigh
The man I had been introduced to as Asher, I don’t think he realized that the look he had sent to a young girl had gone unnoticed. Seeing his jaw ticking and the fist around his beer bottle tightening when some other man had sat down beside the young girl?
That was the look of a possessed alpha man if I have ever seen one. Sure, I’ve seen that look from the brothers of Wrath MC and even from Gage, but none of them has been quite like this look.
She was gorgeous in a girl-next-door kind of way. And the girl sitting beside her. Now that I’m getting a closer look at her, she resembles Asher. Perhaps that’s his daughter? Maybe?
Then, who was the girl that Asher was looking at?
Then it hit me. That must be his daughter’s best friend… oh shit.
But that wasn’t the oh shit moment, well, it was, but not entirely.
The man who had sat down beside the girl reached over and moved a stray of her hair that had come loose from her bun back behind her ear.
Well, that’s what it looked like he was in the process of… until she pulled her head away from him.
The man at our sides stood and then slammed his beer on the table to storm over there.
“Where is the popcorn when you need it?” I asked the girls who had joined me about half an hour ago.
Lil looked up from her chips and salsa and asked, “What?”
June nodded, “You are so right.”
“Hot baby Jesus.” Harlow breathed out.
Michelle and Mackenzie both said at the same time, “We need Twizzlers for this, too.”
“Get. The. Fuck. Up.” Each word that came out of Asher’s mouth was with a growl.
We all sat there watching this unfold, and the stupid idiot crossed his arms over his chest and literally said, “Last time I checked, you ain’t a member of this club. Means you can’t tell me to fucking move.”
“Last time I checked, boy? The last motherfucker that spoke to me like that had the opportunity to find out why I used to be known as Breaker. Furthermore, this is my motherfucking club. This is my god damned house. I tell you to the fuck up, you fucking do it.”
Apparently, none of the women at our table knew that answer. Oh, but the men sure did.
In fact, a few of them went over there and moved the younger man away from the girls. “This is bullshit. I saw her first.” The boy was yelling at him.
We couldn’t hear what was said, but apparently, Asher got his point across when the young man’s eyes widened, and his face paled.
The moment Asher stepped back, the younger man bolted out of the clubhouse like his ass was on fire.
I watched as the younger girl stepped away from them, walked to a cooler, grabbed a beer, then walked back to the man and handed it to him.
But you can bet there was no mistaking the heat in the man’s eyes as he gazed at the younger woman.
Was everyone else here blind to it?
Or did they all know that he was waiting until she was legal?
Would it be possible to become a fly on the wall for this?